Popcorn Brain and Other Distractions

A string of thoughts, publishing news, and reading recommendations.

A Hemingway Cat in Key West!

Hello! It’s been a moment. I’m currently sizzling in this heat wave, daydreaming about gelato and beaches (is everyone on your feed also in Europe? And are you swooning with jealousy like me?). But not to worry—I’m also enjoying pool time with my family, I’ve written the beginnings of a new book, and I’ve made a significant dent in my towering TBR (more on that below!). I also went to Key West and got reacquainted with Hemingway’s six-toed cats. 

Amidst all this, I’m putting some thought into the state of Wallflower Chats. To be honest, part of what’s kept me away from this newsletter for so long has been my reluctance to define what I want it to be. I know many of you originally subscribed for the longer essays (thank you!), but I’ve felt a greater reluctance to write in-depth about my personal life. As my daughter grows, I want to be respectful of her privacy, and as an author and oversharer, I’m never quite sure what to reveal and what not to reveal about my work. Publishing has so many highs and so many lows! It’s a fine line to straddle—being forthcoming, but also having the right boundaries in place for my mental health. And the newsletter space is crowded—I never want to waste anyone’s time! In any case, I think it’s natural to evolve and I also think it’s okay not to have everything perfectly defined. (My Type 1 tendencies do not enjoy admitting that.)

I recently listened to this podcast episode on stress management and it unlocked something for me about the way I exist in the world. In the episode, Dr. Aditi Nerurkar mentions popcorn brain, a recent phenomenon of compulsive distraction and topic-switching that echoes our experience with social media. Because of the way we scroll through our feeds, often absorbing information in minute and fast-paced clips, many of our brains are now conditioned to mirror this frantic cognitive pattern in our real lives. In my case, I’m finding myself more impatient and unfocused. As I said to my doctor, I feel like it’s so noisy in my head, and there’s a sense of urgency that’s never rooted in anything concrete. Popcorn brain has affected the way I interact with people and even the way I read and write. So one of my goals for this season in life is to find my quiet again, which entails being a little more intentional about how I’m using channels of communication like this one. 

All this to say that I’m still figuring it out, but I miss popping in to say hello, so here I am and hello!

But generally—things are going pretty well in my corner of the universe. Banyan Moon is now in paperback, and it’s fun to see people with the more portable version. Thank you so much to everyone who’s read and supported the novel. You made my debut experience extraordinary!

I’m also very excited to share that I have a whirlwind romance novel coming out under my pen name (Nora Nguyen) called Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour. It’s about two very different personalities (a grumpy CMO and a free-spirited poetess) who are thrown together on a matchmaking tour of a lifetime through the most breathtaking sights in Vietnam. I wrote the book as a love letter to wanderlust and surprising happily-ever-afters, and I hope that you’ll pick up a copy for your swoony, late-summer escape. (It’s out September 24!) Isn’t the cover the best? All my thanks to my cover designer Ploy Siripant and illustrator Decue Wu. If you’re in central Ohio, stay tuned for an update on the launch event!

For Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour, I flew to New York to attend an event appropriately called Shelves and the City, where I got to meet some talented authors, bookish content creators, and the fabulous teams at HarperCollins. I took my requisite selfie at the romance bookshop of my dreams, The Ripped Bodice, learned how to make a paper peony, and ate an enormous lobster roll that I’m still salivating over.

But usually, when I’m not at my laptop, I’m reading on my ratty old armchair. A few books I’ve loved this year  … 

• Leaving by Roxana Robinson: An author-friend recently shared this one on her feed and cautioned that it was slow going. It was, but I realized how much I loved sinking into a novel that devotes such profound attention to the characters and their dynamics. In this one, two former sweethearts rediscover one another in a later season of their lives and grapple with the consequences of their revived affair.

• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett: I’d characterize this novel as cozy fantasy. It was sweet and delightful and often very funny; an ideal book for an escape. In this first of a trio of books, stern Emily Wilde, Cambridge anthropologist of fae (fairies), finds herself on an unlikely adventure in a remote Norwegian village with her hapless and uncommonly charismatic colleague, Wendell Bambleby, who she suspects might actually be fae royalty. 

• Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino: A moving and powerful exploration of what it means to be human in a disconnected world. In 1977, Adina, a strangely astute infant, is born in Philadelphia at the moment that Voyager 1 launches into space. Her secret: she comes from a faraway planet and has been tasked with sending observations about Earth and its inhabitants to her leaders via a clunky old fax machine. I’ve never read a book like this before and doubt I ever will again.

• The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren: It almost feels trite to recommend a Christina Lauren, because their books are so beloved, but I truly enjoyed every moment of this romcom. Years ago, messy and unmoored Anna married a stranger named Liam for prime student housing, and never quite got around to divorcing him. Liam returns to her life with the grand reveal that he’s the heir to a multimillion-dollar grocery store empire. If Anna agrees to pretend to still be married to Liam (for real, this time) during his sister’s epic island wedding, he’ll pay her an enormous sum that will let her get her life together. It all sounds convoluted (or maybe that’s just my bad summary), but it’s really such a romp of a story. There’s a reason Christina Lauren books come out during the summer!

• Midnight Feast: I know some fell off the Lucy Foley train after The Paris Apartment, but this newest novel hooked me in. It’s all vibes and intrigue. The setting in this book is incomparable: a seaside estate in England bristling with luxury and secrets. There’s an enigmatic founder, disgruntled locals with grudges galore, multiple timelines, and high, high stakes. If you’re looking for a thriller that will transport you and keep you turning pages, this is the one to read. 

• The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo: This Gothic historical fantasy is so different from the other Bardugo books I’ve read, and I really enjoyed getting absorbed in the story. During the Spanish Golden Age, we meet Luzia, a housemaid who has many hidden gifts, including the ability to blend in with her surroundings. All that changes the day her mistress discovers her powers and displays her magic as a party trick. Luzia must now negotiate the treacherous world of Spanish nobility, walking a very fine line between devastating power and danger. The only person she can depend on is an immortal familiar named Santángel, who hoards centuries’ worth of secrets of his own. 

• North Woods by Daniel Mason: My favorite book of the year. With beautiful and precise prose, Mason traces the history of a New England house across the centuries, weaving the stories of its inhabitants in surprising and constantly moving ways. I experienced a wide range of emotion while reading this book: heartbreak, fury, horror, delight. Sometimes I find myself still thinking about the characters and wondering what they’re up to. North Woods was a book I never wanted to end. 

• Martyr by Kaveh Akbar: Bold, arresting, and very satisfying. Cyrus lost his mother as an infant, when her plane was shot out of the sky into the Persian Gulf. As he grows into young adulthood, he continues to grapple with the senseless violence in the world. His own struggles with addiction and obsessions with the past lead him down a path that will change everything he understands about his own identity. This book is voicey in the best way, with sharp dialogue and brilliant observations of humans in crisis.

• And of course, Leslie Stephens’s just-released dystopian novel You’re Safe Here, which I had the chance to blurb! Here’s a snippet of my blurb: “Part psychological thriller and part wry social commentary, You're Safe Here is a fresh and timely debut that deftly explores the potential--and betrayals--of a world bursting with unbound technological innovation. With deliciously paced storytelling sprinkled with secrets galore, Leslie Stephens's debut promises to guide you through uncertain waters with grace and authority." Congratulations, Leslie!!

I’ve forgotten a ton of great books, but I’ll add more next time! If you have a moment, let me know if you’re reading, watching, eating, or enjoying anything special lately. Thanks for being here <3